


A Bad Day

by Cat2000



Series: Broken Spirits [3]
Category: Thunderheart (1992)
Genre: M/M, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24379741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat2000/pseuds/Cat2000
Summary: Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from the movie Thunderheart and I’m not making any money from this ficSummary: Ray is having a bad day and he can’t pull himself out of it. Luckily, he has help
Relationships: Walter Crow Horse/Ray Levoi
Series: Broken Spirits [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002315
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	A Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thecarlysutra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecarlysutra/gifts).



> Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for the movie Thunderheart; AU; some references to violence
> 
> Pairing: Walter Crow Horse/Ray Levoi
> 
> Author’s Note: Written for artist and fellow writer TheCarlySutra, as part of a fic/art exchange. The picture she did for me can be found on the site cat2000andhope1izfanfiction DOT com, under the American Assassin page

Ray felt out of sorts.

He’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed. His bad mood had had him picking at Walter; pushing until his lover had bent him over the bed for a few stinging swats before they’d left for work. It had helped a little, but not nearly enough.

Trouble was, Ray was fairly certain he knew what would help. And he could ask for it. Walter wouldn’t look down on him for what he needed. But he didn’t _want_ to need it. So instead of doing the sensible thing and talking to his partner, he’d withdrawn into himself.

On a normal day, Walter wouldn’t have let it go. Ray knew his lover well enough to be aware of that. If it was just the two of them, Walter would have pulled Ray back. Hard. No matter what it took.

But today hadn’t run smoothly at all, which was why the two of them were in the squad car, Walter driving them towards one of the outdoor bars on the reservation.

“Are you sure this is a lead worth chasing down?” Ray broke the silence without looking at Walter, staring out of the window. “It sounds more like the ramblings of a drunk, to be honest. Dead men don’t walk.”

“They probably don’t drink or get into brawls, either,” Walter agreed. “But who can say what causes a man’s spirit to get so restless, it clings to life far beyond what it should? And Lightning Hawk ain’t the kind of man to get so drunk, he starts seeing ghosts where there’s none,” he added. “If he’s called it in, there’s something going on.”

Ray lapsed into silence. His skin tingled; crawled like it was covered in thousands of tiny ants. He felt hollow inside. Empty. Like he needed to be filled with something.

Neither of them spoke as Walter parked just outside the shaded area. Tall stools and tables were grouped around the bar, behind which a surly looking man eyed the car with open suspicion.

Walter’s hand on his knee, gently squeezing, drew Ray’s attention to his partner. His eyes slid from the rough, calloused hand to Walter’s face. “Are we treating this like an interrogation? Or just having a conversation?”

“It’s a conversation. No need for an interrogation.” Walter squeezed his knee again and then got out of the car.

Ray took his time following, instead watching his partner through the windscreen as Walter approached the only man sitting at one of the tables. In spite of the pint glass sitting in front of him, it was full nearly to the brim with amber liquid; and despite a slight tremor to his fingers as he reached for it, the man didn’t appear to be drunk.

Walter’s stance was casual. Hands resting lightly on his hips, he stopped in front of the man, who resorted to tapping his fingers against the glass.

The sensation hadn’t truly gone away. Ray felt hot and cold all over, his skin prickling with pins and needles that made his flesh crawl. When he finally got out of the car, it was just as much to escape his rapidly increasing frustration as it was to offer his partner backup.

As he headed towards the two men, Ray could hear the conversation going on. The seated man held eye contact with Walter, speaking in a low, earnest voice. “I know how it sounds. Hell, if it had just been a fleeting glimpse outta the corner of my eye, I never woulda called. But it wasn’t.” He shook his head and drained half the pint in a big swallow. “He spoke to me. Just as if I hadn’t confirmed it was his body on that cold slab only two days ago.”

“What did he say?” Walter asked patiently.

“At first?” Lightning Hawk shrugged and stared gloomily at his beer. “Nothing. Just sat down next to me. Ordered a whiskey, neat. His usual.”

“What did _you_ say to him?” Ray asked, pausing next to Walter.

Lightning Hawk looked him up and down in one slow motion and then addressed Walter. “He bothering you?”

“Yeah.” Walter smirked before adding, “But he’s my husband. I signed on for this.”

Ray stiffened. Yeah, it was a joke. He _knew_ it was a joke. That didn’t seem to matter, though. The question and Walter’s response rubbed him raw in all the wrong places. Even so, if he hadn’t been feeling wound up and all out of sorts, he never would have said what he did next. “Your friend’s dead and gone. His spirit isn’t hanging on around here. His body’s in the morgue right now, but then it’ll be in the ground.”

The silence that fell after his words was deafening. Immediately, Ray wished he could take the words back. Lightning Hawk looked absolutely stricken. And while Ray didn’t look at Walter’s face, he could _feel_ his partner’s eyes boring into him.

“I’m….” Ray paused. It was difficult to force himself to say the words, but he did anyway; even if he couldn’t make eye contact with either of them. “I’m sorry.” In a louder voice, directing the words to Walter, he continued, “I’ll go wait in the car.” He didn’t wait for a response before he was walking back in the direction he’d come from.

Ray got in the car without Walter coming after him, which stirred a lot of emotions inside. On the one hand, he was relieved; it gave him time to think and reflect on the day so far. On the other hand… _he now had time to think and reflect on the day so far_.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat in the car for, thinking about what an ass he’d been. His self-recrimination was interrupted, though, when he heard the car door open and Walter’s voice say, “If you really needed your ass tanned, you could have just said so.”

Ray couldn’t help wincing. He wanted to deny the words; even opened his mouth to say that. But the protest died before it reached his lips. Walter was right. He’d even thought as much while they’d been driving. So instead of making excuses, he simply said, “I’m sorry. I know you’re right.” He hesitated, briefly, before asking the question he dreaded the answer to. “Is he really upset? I didn’t mean to say that.”

Walter snorted softly, like he didn’t believe that was true, but he didn’t accuse Ray of lying. Instead, he simply said, “Lightning Hawk has a very thick skin. And he believes wholeheartedly in what he saw.”

“But I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

Walter put his seatbelt on and waited until Ray put his own on before he put the car into gear and began driving. “No,” he agreed. “You really shouldn’t have said those things. I’m going to take you home and then give you what you so obviously need.”

Ray just nodded. His partner hadn’t outright said, ‘You’re getting your butt blistered,’ but he didn’t need to.

The drive back home was silent. By the time Walter parked outside their house, Ray was trembling in anticipation. The sensation of ants crawling over his skin was gone, replaced by butterflies swarming in his stomach.

“Go inside and wait for me in the bedroom,” Walter directed.

Swallowing, Ray gave a somewhat jerky nod and opened the door. He headed into the house and walked up the stairs to their bedroom.

‘Wait for me’ was really code for ‘stand in the corner and wait for me’. Ray crossed the room and stood in the corner, staring at the join in the wall.

After what felt like an eternity, Ray heard his partner walk into the room and the sound of Walter sitting on the bed. He heard the rustling as Walter shifted to get comfortable and then his partner called, “Okay, Ray. Come here now.”

Ray stepped out of the corner, glancing towards the bed, where Walter sat with his legs slightly parted, settled back on the bed far enough that Ray’s upper body would be supported when he was settled in place. Next to him on the bed was the small, oak paddle.

Walking to Walter’s side took only moments. Ray stood in front of him as his partner undid his pants, pushing them down to his knees, and then simply patted his lap.

Letting his breath out in a whoosh of air, Ray bent slowly over Walter’s knees, settling himself in place with his elbows resting on the mattress.

A light tap with the paddle was all the warning he had before it impacted his backside with a clear, audible snap. Ray drew in his breath sharply and clenched his fingers in the bedsheets. A second and third strike made him whimper.

Walter began to speak as he snapped the paddle against Ray’s bottom; not using a huge amount of force, but it didn’t take long for Ray’s legs to start twitching and for him to release huffs of breath each time the paddle impacted. “Why am I spanking you?”

“Because…because I said some really horrible things while we were talking to Lightning Hawk,” Ray forced out.

“No, Ray.” Walter’s voice was gentle; a stark contrast to the hard, stinging swats from the paddle. “You shouldn’t have said what you did to him, but it wasn’t just about this. You’ve been having a bad day, haven’t you?”

“Uh-uh.” Ray’s eyes began to water as the paddle impacted against his sit spots and thighs. The strikes weren’t any harder than they had been on his backside, but on the more sensitive, unprotected areas, they _felt_ harder.

“You didn’t have to deal with this bad day alone, Ray. If you’d come to me earlier, we could have taken care of things before you exploded like you did.” Every other word, the paddle landed on a different spot, ultimately leaving every inch of his backside stinging and burning.

“I’m sorry.” Ray’s voice was tight and very small.

“I know you are. And I forgive you. I love you. And I won’t let you feel out of sorts.”

More tears slipped out of Ray’s eyes as he felt Walter yank down his underwear. The paddle impacting his bare bottom hurt so much more than it had with the cotton briefs in place.

But more than the paddle, it was his position and the fact that Walter loved him enough to help him out of his bad mood that made Ray break. By the time he slumped over his lover’s lap, his whole bottom, down to his thighs, was burning. He cried, breath hitching in sobs, but inside, he felt so much lighter.

When his tears finally calmed down, Ray was helped up by his lover and Walter settled him on his lap instead of over it, wrapping him in a tight hug.

Clinging to Walter, Ray let his head rest on his lover’s shoulder. He could have apologised again, but Walter had already told him he was forgiven. So he cuddled in close and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Next time, don’t let it get so bad,” Walter directed. “Tell me what you need. And we’ll deal with it.”

When Walter kissed him, Ray wrapped his arms tighter around his lover and kissed back with all he had, pouring everything of him into the kiss.

** The End **


End file.
